Summary:Real-life cowboy Ron Woodroof's free-wheeling life was upended in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. Shunned by many of his old friends and bereft of government-approved effective medicines, Ron decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments from all over the world by means both legal and illegal. Bypassing the establishment, the entrepreneurial Woodroof joined forces with an unlikely band of renegades and outcasts, establishing a hugely successful buyers' club.